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Cavalry: combat
In combat, the task of the cavalry is to charge the enemy with
cold steel. Thanks to its speed and maneuverability it can
exploit weak spots in the enemy formation, flank, surprise
units
en marche,
and turn breech in the enemy line ground out
by the infantry into a complete rout. Even costly frontal charges
against prepared infantry or artillery formations are not unheard
of in the period.
Here, two squadrons of the 8th Curassier Regiment stand in line
formation ready to charge.
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Infantry: line formation
The 1st Battalion of Austria's 21st Inf. Reg. is facing in south
west direction to cover the right flank of the Austrian forces.
An infantry battalion is always represented by two half battalion
tokens to allow the depiction of different formations. However,
splitting a battalion and using its parts independently is not part
of the textbook at the time.
The
battalion is the smallest tactical unit
that moves inde-
pendently!
This battalion is in
line formation
, the most widely used
combat formation, that combines maximum fire power with rea-
sonable protection against frontal assaults.
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Infantry: marching column
1st and 2nd Battalion of Austria's 32nd Inf. Reg. are
en route
from their reserve positions to the front line. They are formed
in marching columns, the usual formation for rapid movement
through terrain. To indicate a marching column, the two tokens
that constitute a Battalion are stacked and oriented with the
broad side in moving direction.
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Infantry: attack column
On the other side, 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 40th Prussian
Inf. Reg. are in attack column formation preparing a bayonet
charge against the northern flank of the Austrian force. This
formation is ideal for rapid assaults, but is does not provide
significant fire power. In attack column, the tokens are also
stacked battalion wise, but oriented with the short side to the
direction of movement.
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Infantry: light infantry and skirmish lines
Light infantry units can be discerned by the green coloration of
their tokens. Here, the Prussian 8th Jäger Battalion has deployed
in skirmish line at the norther edge of the wood.
In this formation, a part of the batallion constitutes a reserve to
the rear of the skirmish line. Skirmish lines minimize losses by
enemy fire, but they are extremely vulnerable to cavalry and
bayonet charges.
Traditionally a speciality of designated light infantry units, the
Prussian army by 1866 trained all regular line regiments in light
infantry tactics.
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Infantry: indicating casualties
If a battalion sustained losses roughly equivalent to the strenght
of one company (four companies constitute one battalion in the
1860s), reduced strength is indicated by replacing one of the half
battalion tokens with a company token. After losing 50% of its
strength, the battalion would be represented by only one half
battalion token.
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Infantry: fusilier battalions
Some Prussian regiments call their third battalion "fusilier ba-
ttalion". This can be a source of confusion, though it is just
another regular infantry batallion.
Here, the fusilier battalion of the 28th Inf. Reg. faces north east
in line formation.
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Artillery: open order
A battery of the Prussian 7th Artillery Regiment has taken position
on a hilltop to support attacking infantry. A battery has a paper
strength of four guns. It is represented by two half-battery tokens
and another token for the limber. When ready to fire, the limber is
placed to the rear of the guns. As with infantry battalions, gun
batteries cannot be split into independent units.
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Artillery: rifled artillery
On the opposite hill a battery of the 9th Austrian Art. Reg. has
taken position. This battery is equipped with rifled cannons that
have better range and accuracy than traditional smoothbore
guns. Whereas this new technology was standard in the Austrian
and Saxonian armed forces by 1866, the Prussian army was had
not yet completely adopted it.
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Artillery: close order
This full strength battery of the 11th Art. Reg. is in close order
and can position all of its guns on a rather narrow hill top.
Close order allows to pack more guns in less space at the cost of
higher losses if exposed to enemy fire.
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Artillery: movement
This is yet another battery of rifled cannons from the 9th Aus-
trian Art. Reg., moving to the front to stiffen up the Austrian
position. To indicate the guns are limbered, all tokens of the
battery are stacked.
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Artillery: horse artillery
The Prussian forces are also moving their reserve guns, in this
case a battery of horse artillery that can move more quickly than
a conventional unit.
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Cavalry: marching order
The horse artillery is accompanied by four squadrons of the 11th
Hussar Regiment. In cavalry, the squadron represented by a
single token is the smallest tactical unit that can operate inde-
pendently. Here, the squadrons of the regiment are in marching
column, which is indicated by the tokens being stacked in twos.
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Cavalry: patrols
Patrolling and reconnaisance are among the most important
tasks of cavalry. Though cavalry regiments often go on scouting
missions in force, it is also possible to detach a small patrol from
a squadron.
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Command personel
Tracking the positions of commanders in the terrain is especially
important for the umpires to assess what kind of first hand obser-
vations of the battle field situation players should have, and how
long messages and orders will travel between their position and a
distant unit.
In the 19th century, small dots made of lead were used for that
purpose. In modern reconstructions, that usually use tokens
made of lighter material, a pin with a small flag stuck into a ca-
valry patrol token is used to indicate the position of important
command personel.
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Tschischwitz 1867
The symbols and their mode of use as
explained here are from a set of rules
published by Wilhelm von Tschischwitz
in 1867.
In this publication Tschischwitz, a
Prussian infantry officer and veteran of
the Battle at Königgrätz, updated his
existing rules according to his experien-
ces in the Austro-Prussian war.
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A fictional tactical situation in 1866
This demonstrates how tokens are used to
depict units and their formations.
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Steffen Pielström & Jorit Wintjes
2019
The map is used by permission of the
British Library (BLL01004805936)
Welcome to Königgrätz 1866
This short presentation shows how to represent
unit types and formations on the map according
to the
Kriegsspiel
rules written by Wilhelm von
Tschischwitz.
The setting of the game is the Austro-Prussian
war of 1866 that was decided in the Battle at
Königgrätz in Bohemia.
Hint: you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard
to navigate back forth through the presentation.
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Austrians
Prussians
1
Welcome
Tschischwitz
Overview
Infantry 1
Infantry 2
Infantry 3
Infantry 4
Infantry 5
Infantry 6
Artillery 1
Artillery 2
Artillery 3
Artillery 4
Artillery 5
Cavalry 1
Cavalry 2
Cavalry 3
Command personel
End